The judges couldn't immediately identify what kind of pill it was. Its aura was somewhat similar to the Returning Spirit Pill, but the Returning Spirit Pill's appearance was quite different from this one.
"Could it be another improved pill formula?" Shu Yuanguan, as the representative of the Lianfeng Sword Sect, asked first.
Shi Xuan nodded and said, "It is the Returning Spirit Pill, with an improved formula."
After saying that, he glanced at Fan Hongde and said, "I won't let you try my pills this round. If it really doesn't work, then it's better not to take this ranking."
Fan Hongde was furious: "You're trying to threaten the judges? Your pills have been modified, how would we know their efficacy?"
Shi Xuan raised his eyelids slightly: "If I were to improve a poison pill today, I wonder if Sect Leader Fan would like to give it a try."
"Utterly rude!" Fan Hongde felt that all his lifelong composure would be lost in front of Shi Xuan. No matter how he looked at Shi Xuan, he felt that Shi Xuan was looking at him with contempt.
If Shi Xuan knew what he was thinking, he would definitely praise him for his keen intuition.
At this moment, Shi Mingxiu, who had been sitting silently in the front stands, spoke up: "Haha, Sect Master Fan, this little disciple of our sect has no bad intentions, he's just a bit too blunt. However, this flawless fifth-grade Dao Seal pill is so precious, we can't just give it away casually, can we? The little girl also promised to refine a Ling Shen Pill for me. If I get an improved Ling Shen Pill, am I supposed to have someone test its effects first? Some things are too valuable, it's best to be cautious."
What? Shi Xuan promised to help Shi Ming cultivate some kind of pill? Is he talking about the Ling Shen Pill?
The Ling Shen Pill is the most precious and useful pill for advancing to the Nascent Soul stage. Advancing to the Nascent Soul stage is dangerous, and everyone hopes to have the Ling Shen Pill as a guarantee when they advance.
Currently, there isn't a single alchemist in the Qian Yuan Western Region who can refine the Ling Shen Pill, not even Fan Hongde. But who knows, Xuan Zhen might be able to! She's the only alchemist in the entire Qian Yuan Region who has obtained the Dao Imprint of Alchemy! Is there anything she can't do!
The others were initially just curious and fond of the fifth-tier Returning Spirit Pill, but after hearing Shi Mingxiu's words, they all turned into envy, jealousy, and hatred. Why didn't such a disciple come to their sect! They would definitely treat her like royalty, even if she did nothing, just giving her a few Cold Spirit Pills would be better than anything else!
In fact, Shi Mingxiu used to think that Shi Xuan was just joking when she said she would refine the Ling Shen Pill for him. But after his impression of Shi Xuan was refreshed time and time again, he suddenly realized that as long as Shi Xuan continued to cultivate normally, she might actually be able to refine the Ling Shen Pill when she reached the Nascent Soul stage!
Just then, Shi Xuan shamelessly declared, "Sect Master, rest assured, I don't have the habit of making empty promises. The Ling Shen Pill is absolutely no problem. Once my cultivation is sufficient, I will refine a batch for you. You can start preparing the materials now."
Upon hearing this, the eyes of the assembled teachers and elders turned green with envy. One batch… how many were in Shi Xuan's batch? She had just produced nine fifth-tier Returning Spirit Pills, and before that, she had produced five of those enormous Thunder-Attracting Pills! The more they thought about it, the more regrettable it became. How could they possibly snatch this disciple from their hands?!
Fan Hongde didn't want to admit it; he kept telling himself that Shi Xuan was just boasting and it wasn't true. But subconsciously, he had already taken it as fact.
He was numb; one wrong step and everything would fall apart. From the day he decided to change Shi Xuan's spiritual root, everything had headed down a path of no return.
Perhaps his enmity with Shi Xuan caused him to miss the greatest opportunity of his life, but regret at this moment is of no use.
Since this person is now his mortal enemy, killing her is the best option to avoid future trouble.
She escaped the Golden Core tribulation last time, but she won't be so lucky next time.
In the end, the fifth-tier Returning Spirit Pill returned to Shi Xuan's hands after going through all the twists and turns. Shi Xuan let out an exaggerated sigh of relief, putting on a look of great relief, which infuriated Fan Hongde even more.
With the Heavenly Dao Seal present, and this being a competition without set questions, regardless of the effects of Shi Xuan's elixir, she's determined to take first place.
In contrast to her, the disciples of the Divine Cauldron Sect did not perform very well. Gu Zhusheng, the senior disciple with the best alchemy skills, was distracted by the fall of Fan Mingzhu's alchemy furnace, resulting in his alchemy pills only reaching the upper grade, which was not even as good as the two disciples of the Lianfeng Sword Sect.
"Alas, the Divine Cauldron Sect is no good either. Their disciples' alchemy skills are far inferior to those of the Converging Edge Sword Sect."
"So from now on we can choose to buy pills from the Lianfeng Sword Sect. It is said that the price is also very reasonable."
"I can't stand it anymore. A sect specializing in alchemy only managed to win one Qi Refining stage championship in three competitions. The disciple who came in second place is almost on par with the champion."
"Is the Lianfeng Sword Sect going to become a pill-cultivation sect? How come they're so powerful?"
"It would be best if they focused on alchemy, which would give us a better chance in individual matches."
...
The third stage, a written test, was even simpler for Shi Xuan. Having lived a second life and seen all the materials in the illusion, her knowledge of elixirs was unmatched in the Qian Yuan Western Region.
Answering this question is like asking a Nascent Soul stage alchemist to refine a Spirit Recovery Pill, and even after answering, they still feel unsatisfied.
Shi Xuan's ultimate victory was entirely expected, offering no surprise whatsoever. Only a handful of people had placed bets on Shi Xuan. The winners didn't win much, and the losers were already mentally prepared.
However, Gu Zhusheng of the Divine Cauldron Sect, who should have been firmly in second place, made a mistake due to Fan Mingzhu and fell to fourth place.
Among the top three, the first is Shi Xuan of the Lianfeng Sword Sect, the second is Chang Qing of the Lianfeng Sword Sect, and the third is Shen Cong, a disciple of the Shending Sect.
All three rounds of competition have been completed, and the outcome is already decided. Lianfeng Sword Sect has become the biggest winner of this alchemy competition, while the most favored Shending Sect only won the Qi Refining Championship and ranked third in the Golden Core stage in the three competitions.
Fan Hongde's face hadn't looked good since the first group, and it remained dark until the very end.
What he found most unacceptable was that Gu Zhusheng, who was originally a sure bet to get second place, only got fourth place in the end, because Fan Mingzhu exploded the alchemy furnace.
The reason Fan Mingzhu caused the furnace to explode was ultimately because she wanted to disturb Shi Xuan's alchemy. However, her attempt to steal a chicken backfired, resulting in the loss of her most reliable member.
Now look what happened! Not only did they fail to disrupt the game and lose first place, but they also lost second place, which they thought was a sure thing.
The entire Divine Cauldron Sect was shrouded in a somber atmosphere, while the Converging Edge Sword Sect was filled with jubilation, its entire group creating a lively and boisterous scene.
They wanted to lift Shi Xuan up and throw him around, but they didn't dare to do it themselves. So they just let Gu Liangce do it, lifting him up and throwing him around again and again, as if they were afraid of being taken advantage of and wanted to throw Shi Xuan's share out with him as well.
The Divine Cauldron Sect was envious. Shi Xuan had once been their junior sister, and this prosperity and glory originally belonged to their Divine Cauldron Sect.
However... the disciples dared not say it outright, but they couldn't help but feel some resentment towards Fan Mingzhu and her father.
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